"This has to be a joke," Jade muttered through gritted teeth.
Robinson pushed Jade gently aside so he could face Dominick.
"You're not going to tell me what I can or can't do," he shouted, his fists clenched. Jade stopped looking at Dom and turned her surprised gaze toward Robinson.
She had never seen him like this.
"Oh, so you can speak for yourself," Dominick mocked, crossing his arms. "I thought you always hid behind Jade's skirts."
Robinson saw red. He stepped toward Dom, ready to punch him, but Jade grabbed his arm.
"Robinson," she said, standing in front of him. "Please."
"Listen to her, Robinson," Dominick suggested, the malicious smile never leaving his face.
"You're not helping, Dominick," Jade growled angrily.
"Whatever," Dom muttered.
"Jade, move aside," Robinson asked, taking her gently by the waist.
The smile instantly disappeared from Dominick's face.
"Let's go, Jade," Dominick ordered, with none of the mocking tone he had before.
"I'm not going anywhere with you," Jade snapped, turning on him, furious.
"Understand once and for all... sir," Robinson said, using heavy irony on «sir» "she doesn't want anything to do with you." Dominick visibly tensed.
"Jade, you'd better come with me, unless you want..."
"Robinson, give me a moment," she interrupted, turning to the brunette with a soft smile and caressing his cheek. "I'll leave in a minute to help Nerea. Don't worry."
Robinson sighed in defeat. Jade drove him crazy; he would do anything—anything—to please her.
Dom rolled his eyes when Robinson kissed her forehead. He left them alone.
"I don't know in what language you want me to tell you to leave me alone," Jade growled, turning back to face him.
"I don't want to," he said, and she could see the brazen way he ran his eyes up and down her body. "And you know perfectly well... I have certain interests in you," he murmured the last part.
"You couldn't be more disgusting," she spat through clenched teeth. "Leave me alone or I swear..."
"Or what?" Dom stepped closer, towering over her. "What will you do? Hit me? It's not like you haven't done it before. I can live with it."
He saw the fury burning in her green eyes. She wanted to hit him, no doubt about it.
He had developed a strange fascination with seeing her angry. Her cheeks would turn slightly red when she was furious. It was magnificent, simply beautiful.
"You know what? Go to hell!" she shouted, throwing her arms up.
She spun around and walked away from him as fast as she could.
"Stop resisting, Jade!" he shouted after her. "Sooner or later, you'll give in!"
She didn't hear anything else, she had already turned the corner.
"Son of a bitch," Jade muttered through gritted teeth as she entered the room she was supposed to clean with Nerea. "I'm going to hit you in the balls so hard..."
"That you'll never be able to have kids," Nerea finished with a smile.
"Exactly," Jade agreed, sliding down the door and sitting on the floor. She closed her eyes, her legs stretched out in front of her.
"What happened? Give me the short version, we're running late and Ellie has us in her sights. That woman's scary sometimes," Nerea smiled, crawling on hands and knees over to her.
"My headache came back," Jade said, loosening her hair. "There was so much tension out there, I completely forgot."
"Don't worry," Nerea soothed her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Now tell me the gossip."
"He was about to kiss me..." Jade murmured with a smile, making Nerea frown.
"Who was about to kiss you?" she asked.
"Robinson. He even asked for permission, can you believe it?" Jade said, shaking her head. "Everything was perfect... until that nosy Dominick showed up."
"I can imagine you two argued. There's so much drama in your life since he arrived."
"Tell me about it!"
Both of them stood up.
"Let's get back to cleaning. It's going to be a long day…"
5:59 pm
She still had almost two hours left on her shift, and she was already exhausted. Nerea had gone to get more sheets. Jade, meanwhile, was heading to the break room for some water, and why not, maybe something to eat, too.
"Jade!" Christian called out enthusiastically.
"Hey, Chris," she smiled. The headache pill she had taken hours earlier had worked, along with the upset stomach. "How are you?"
"Better than you, from what I can see," he joked, grinning. "I told you not to drink so much."
"I wish I had listened," she laughed. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "I don't even remember how I got to my room."
"I do," Chris said, walking with her. "Maximiliano and I took you and Nerea to your room. You were... very cheerful."
"How embarrassing," she mumbled, blushing.
"Tomorrow we're going to buy the dress. I hope you don't mind. I talked to Maximiliano and he agreed to let you off for a few hours, okay?"
They entered the elevator.
"That's fine, no problem," she agreed with a smile.
They exited the metal box a few minutes later, still with his arm around her shoulders and her arm around his waist.
"Where are you taking me?" Chris teased.
"Me? Taking you somewhere?" she smiled, and Chris looked at her, full of affection. There was no doubt he loved her. Deep down, he held a small hope that one day she would look at him the way people looked at someone they loved…
But there was always that other issue, his brother.
They arrived at the break room, and she let go of him, walking over to grab a water bottle and taking a drink.
"Can I ask you a question?" Chris sat down on a small armchair.
"You're already asking one," she joked, setting the bottle aside.
"I'm serious."
Jade saw the seriousness in his face and nodded.
"Do you have any... relationship with Dominick?" Christian was attentive; he needed to know the answer as soon as possible.
"A relationship? With him?" Jade stared at him, wide-eyed.
"Forgive my indiscretion. If you don't want to answer..."
"No!" she rushed to say, her expression filled with horror. "I would never have anything with him. It's... it's unthinkable!"
"I understand, I understand. Calm down," he asked her; she seemed upset, and he honestly didn't understand why.
"I'm sorry, Christian, I have to go." She left without waiting for a reply, her heart racing, and she didn't know why.
She cursed when she realized she had forgotten to take what she was about to eat... She felt dizzy and had to lean against the wall; it had been a few days since her last episode.
"Are you okay, Jade?" Tania, one of her coworkers, asked.
"Tania, yes, I'm fine," she lied, opening her eyes to look at her.
Nerea was coming down the hallway, chatting animatedly with another coworker. When she saw Jade with Tania, she hurried over —very concerned— immediately.
"Tania, what happened?" she asked, placing a hand on Jade's back.
"Nothing, Nerea, I'm fine," Jade said.
"She almost fainted," Tania chimed in.
"Thank you, Tania. I'll take care of her from here," Nerea said, wrapping an arm around Jade and leading her away. "Jade…"
"Nerea," Jade said her name in warning, knowing exactly what was coming.
"Don't think you can shut me up. You have to see a doctor, Jade. I've told you over and over. Did you have unprotected sex with Dam?"
"Don't start, Nerea," Jade didn't want to talk about her ex-boyfriend, and she couldn't even deny her accusation because that would mean telling her he had cheated on her. She had lied to her best friend, shamelessly.
"Jade, please, you could be…"
"Nerea, no. I'm sure... I…" she exhaled, about to lie again. "I took the test and it was negative."
"Oh, Jade," the brunette smiled brightly and hugged her. "I'm so happy to hear that. It's not that I wouldn't want a nephew, but you're so young, and that Dam is such an idiot."
Jade forced a smile and continued walking with her. They entered the room they had to clean, and Jade laid down for a bit.
"Don't worry, I'll clean here while you rest."
"No, I can…" she tried to get up, but Nerea stopped her.
"No, no. Jade, don't make me tie you up with the curtains if you get stubborn," she threatened with a grin.
"Alright," Jade let her head fall back onto the pillow and closed her eyes.
[...]
Dominick
"You have to let her go, Dom," Maximiliano advised. "Why are you so obsessed with chasing after Jade?"
"I like her. She's pretty," he said, taking a sip; he was about to drink more but thought better of it after what happened that morning when he woke up.
"You like her? She's pretty?" Maximiliano shook his head. "Dominick, Jade isn't the kind of woman who sleeps with a guy and forgets him the next day."
"How would you know? All women are the same. They might act like saints, but they're all traitors." Dominick stood up; it had already gotten dark. He checked his watch: 7:22.
"Dominick, please listen to me…"
"Goodbye, Maxi…" he said, earning a murderous glare from his friend.
He left the office, and instantly his smile faded. He felt a deep bitterness slowly spreading through him, making his agony even worse… as if it weren't already enough.
All those years, each and every one of them, he had spent in the shadows of the past, clinging to pain, carrying the betrayal of the people he had loved most in the world.
As he walked toward his room, he wondered why he couldn't be like Marcus, forgetting the past that a wicked woman had created… moving on with life, maybe even meeting someone who could…
He shook his head. Fall in love again? Never. He had —and still was— suffering enough.
Because, no matter how much he denied it to himself, despite everything... he still loved her. Jazmín had been his only love, and the only woman who still held his heart.
"Damn you, Jazmín, damn you..." he muttered, heading back to his room.
When he got there, he stripped off everything he was wearing —except his boxers—, grabbed a bottle of whiskey, and sat down in the closet, in the dark.
That was how he had lived for a long time. Half an hour later, he was laughing to himself, mumbling incoherent words.
He heard the door open but didn't move, thinking it was just his imagination.
"Take care of the closet," he heard Jade's voice…
Lately, he couldn't stop thinking about her. Jade, Jade, and Jade again.
The closet doors opened.
"Oh my God! I think he's dead!" a woman's voice shrieked; Dominick's eyes were still closed.
"What's wrong, Sally?" Jade asked, entering the closet.
"I'm alive, very much alive," he muttered, trying to get up. He stumbled, and Sally rushed to help him.
"Dominick, what have you done?" Jade asked, bending down to pick up the bottle that was less than half full , almost empty, really.
"Drinking," he laughed. "What else do you think?"
With Sally's help, Dominick got out of the closet.
"And you… who a-are you?" he slurred.
"Sally, sir," she said.
Dominick stared at her and leaned in toward her face.
"W-would you hit me if I t-tried to kiss you, S-Sally?" he asked.
"Sally, you can go. I'll handle this," Jade ordered, clearly angry at Dominick's shamelessness.
"But…"
"Goodbye, Sally," Jade growled, annoyed.
"N-No," Dominick slurred, wrapping an arm around the girl's waist. "She w-wants to stay h-here."
Jade approached him, managed to pry Sally away from Dom, and let him fall onto the bed.
"Thanks, Sally, but I don't need you anymore," Jade said, crossing her arms.
She raised an eyebrow at the disgusted look the young woman shot her.
"You're still here?" Jade was quickly losing the little patience she had left.
"I don't know who you think you are..." Sally muttered angrily. She turned around and stormed out of the room.
"Desperate," Jade mumbled under her breath.
"W-Where did Silia go?" Dominick asked, his eyes searching for her.
"That's not her name," Jade replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. Only then did she realize he was wearing nothing but black boxers.
"D-Doesn't matter. I d-don't need a n-name to..."
"Sleep with her, right?" Jade interrupted, rolling her eyes.
"Y-Yeah," he admitted, sitting up slightly.
"I have to go," Jade said quickly, trying to leave.
"Can you... do me a f-favor?" he asked.
Jade hesitated for a moment before nodding.
"H-Help me get to the bathroom."
Jade let out a deep sigh and stood up. She held out her hand, and he took it. Ignoring the strange sensation his touch caused, she helped him to his feet. Somehow, she managed to guide him to the bathroom, where Dominick sat down on the closed toilet seat while she began filling the bathtub.
"N-Nice ass," he said with a little giggle.
Jade turned to him, narrowing her eyes. Dominick had a mischievous glint in his eyes, as if he were plotting something. She simply shook her head.
Once the bathtub was full, she helped him climb in.
"I'm leaving now," she announced.
"W-Wait," Dominick said, and she turned to him. "C-Can you pass me the soap?"
Jade grabbed the soap and handed it to him, but as Dominick reached out, he grabbed her by the wrist.
Jade's heart skipped a beat.
"Let go of me," she ordered, her voice coming out weak.
"No," he said firmly, without slurring this time.
«Wait, wasn't he supposed to be... drunk?»
Jade didn't even have time to think about it because Dominick pulled her forward, making her fall into the bathtub. She hit her head on the corner of the bathtub...